うらみかねさ夜の衣を人しれず思ひかへせどなぐさまぬかな
| uramikane sayo no koromo o hito shirezu omoikaesedo nagusamanu kana | Unable to despise you, On this brief night, my robe, Unknown to all, I did reverse in constant thought of you, but It brought me no comfort, at all! |
Kii, from the Ichijō Palace
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ひたすらにさよの衣にことよせてうらなき人を恨みざらなん
| hitasura ni sayo no koromo ni kotoyosete uranaki hito o uramizaranan | Truly, On this brief night, your robe Is but a pretext— An unfeeling lady I would not despise! |
The Governor of Mimasaka
32
君にとし思ひかくれば鶯のはなのくしげもをしまざりけり
| kimi ni to si omoFikakureba uguFisu no hana no kusige mo wosimazarikeri | For my Lady did I fondly think, so The warbler’s Comb box of blossom I do not regret at all… |
Ise
It is said that she composed this poem and sent it, together with some budding scarlet plum blossom to the residence of the Kujō Lady of the Bedchamber when Her Highness held a little box match.
Left
頼むなるあさけ神しも幣はせん君が心やわれになびくと
| tanomu naru asake kami shimo nusa wa sen kimi ga kokoro ya ware ni nabiku to | Worship she does The goddess Asake, so should even I make her an offering? Then might my lady’s heart Trail in my direction… |
Kenshō
1153
Right (Win)
鏡山君に心やうつるらむいそぎ立たれぬ旅衣かな
| kagamiyama kimi ni kokoro ya utsururamu isogi tatarenu tabigoromo kana | Upon Mirror Mount Has my heart Found lodging? For In haste to rise and don My travelling garb, I am not! |
Lord Tsune’ie
1154
Left and Right state: there are no faults to mention in either poem.
In judgement: both Left and Right here refer to a ‘person’ (kimi), with the Left’s ‘making her an offering’ (nusa wa sen) that she might ‘trail in my direction’ (ware ni nabiku ya), while the Right’s has left his heart on Mirror Mount and ‘is not in haste to rise and don his travelling garb’ (isogi tatarenu tabigoromo): each of these poems is evocative, and makes effective use of wordplay, with the Left’s ‘make her an offering’ certainly resembling something I have come across previously, but the initial ‘goddess Asake’ is poor. The Right’s ‘Mirror Mount’ (kagami yama) is something I am familiar with, and this has a gentle tone. Thus, the Right wins.
Left
いとはれて胸やすからぬ思をば人の上にぞ書きうつしつる
| itowarete mune yasukaranu omoi o ba hito no ue ni zo kakiutsushitsuru |
Being despised And my unquiet heart Filled with feelings Upon her I paint them out! |
Kenshō
1115
Right (Win)
いかにせん絵にかく妹にあらねどもまこと少き人心かな
| ika ni sen e ni kaku imo ni aranedomo makoto sukunaki hitogokoro kana |
What am I to do? A lady painted in a picture She is not, yet How lacking are Her feelings! |
Nobusada
1116
The Right state: what is the Left’s poem about? In appeal: it reflects Changkang, who, feeling a woman living next door was beautiful, painted her and was then able to meet her. The Left state: the Right’s poem has no faults to mention.
In judgement: I, too, was unsure of the meaning of ‘my unquiet heart filled with feelings upon her’ (mune yasukaranu omoi woba hito no ue ni zo), and after reading the Left’s response, I am still unclear. In general, in these cases it is customary to cite the source of such things, and to hear of such wide reading is interesting indeed, but this is simply, ‘it reflects Changkang, who, feeling a woman living next door was beautiful, painted her and was then able to meet her’, so it would be difficult to locate within the usual Three Histories; furthermore, I have no recollection of a person named in this Chinese manner, and so an ignorant old man like myself can only ask, who is this Nagayasu? More importantly, though, I do not feel the conception of this poem is particularly well-matched to the topic. The Right’s ‘a lady painted in a picture’ (e ni kaku imo) is a little over-explicit, but ‘how lacking are’ (makoto sukunaki) would seem to be in the style of the Kazan Archbishop, and as I feel this is easier to understand than Nagayasu, I make the Right the winner.
The Chrysanthemum Match during the reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
The Gentlemen of the Left. For the chrysanthemum in the initial round, Kotategimi, a young courtier lad, was dressed as a woman, and brought in the flower, hiding his face with it. A further nine blooms were planted in a suhama. The form of the suhama was certainly very charming. The chrysanthemums had their names written on long strips of paper, which were twined about them in places to show them to their best advantage.
Initial Round: a chrysanthemum from Minase in Yamazaki
うちつけに水瀬は匂ひまされるをり人からか花の常かも
| uchituke ni minase Fa nioFi masareru wori Fito kara ka Fana no tune kamo | Suddenly Minase, with scent Superb is filled – Is it from a lady there, or Are the blooms ever so? |
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